UCSF IT Technology

Cybercriminals have launched numerous, different phishing attacks using timely tax-themed lures. As multiple attacks are leveraging this topic, the lures will appear different. Lures may attempt to impersonate tax or revenue agencies, as well as companies or individuals asking for or offering to provide tax-related services.

Following the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), cybercriminals have launched phishing attacks to take advantage of the high-profile event.One widespread lure impersonates Circle, the peer-to-peer payments company that manages the cryptocurrency USDC. The lure encourages recipients to click an offer link to redeem a one-to-one exchange between the cryptocurrency USDC and the U.S.

Cybercriminals have started using the URL shortening service clck[.]ru in widespread phishing attacks in April. The nature of these attacks and the lures used vary greatly. However, the attacks encourage recipients to click on a shortened URL ending in [.]ru.